If Ferguson Made You Angry, You Need to Watch This New York Grand Jury

The news: As the dust
settles following a tumultuous week in Ferguson, Missouri, the conversation around racism and police violence in America is far from over. One especially volatile case is wrapping up in New York City this month — and though it hasn't garnered the same media attention as Ferguson, the stakes are just as high.

Twenty-three days before Officer Darren Wilson killed 18-year-old Michael
Brown last August, Officer Daniel Pantaleo of the NYPD wrapped his arms around
43-year-old Eric Garner's neck and squeezed it until he died. The incident was ruled a homicide, reports NBC New York. It sparked nationwide outrage against police brutality and anti-black violence, yet much like in Wilson's case, Pantaleo's fate (specifically the decision to charge him with murder) rests with a local grand jury, the Huffington Postreports.

Local police are already "gathering intelligence" and taking measures to stem the potentially violent backlash. Considering how things went in Ferguson, America needs to pay serious attention to how things play out in New York.

The facts: Garner was killed
July 17 when a group of NYPD officers approached him for selling untaxed
cigarettes on Staten Island. He was unarmed. The following exchange was
captured on video and broadcast via YouTube:

"Every time you see me, you're messing with me," Garner tells
the officers, exasperated. "I'm tired of it. This stops today. Every time you
see me, you wanna harass me. ... I told you last time, please just leave me
alone."

About five cops then surround Garner, and Pantaleo places
his arms around Garner's neck from behind while he struggles (some describe the
move as a department-banned chokehold; Pantaleo's lawyer claims
it's a legally sanctioned takedown). Garner then falls to the sidewalk and
eventually goes still. A medical examiner ruled that the compression of
Garner's neck and chest led to his death, exacerbated by pre-existing asthmatic
and heart conditions.

The NYPD apologized and suspended Pantaleo (and two other
officers) without pay after the killing. But so far, that's it. No charges, no
prosecution.

There's plenty to worry about with this New York grand jury. As we saw in Ferguson, odds that such a body opts to charge an officer with
murder are slim-to-none. It's especially troubling in light of a recent
analysis by FiveThirtyEight, which suggests grand juries are actually great at indicting almost everyone else ("[former] New York state Chief Judge
Sol Wachtler famously remarked that a prosecutor could persuade a grand jury to
'indict a ham sandwich,'" according to the report).

Of the 162,000 federal cases
prosecuted it 2010, only 11 failed
to return an indictment. Cops are the clear exception: Officer Pantaleo's case is being
heard before a state grand jury, but police-friendly dynamics
— jurors' tendency to believe police testimony, prosecutors declining to
present compelling evidence against officers — remain intact regardless.

The result is a nation of police
officers rarely held accountable for the civilian deaths they cause. This
impacts black people disproportionately; young black men are up to 21
times more likely to be killed by cops than their white peers, according to ProPublica.

But if the protests following
the Ferguson decision are any indication, Americans are fed up. Demonstrators in
multiple cities that have responded in droves with rallies, marches and actions
directed against police violence and institutional racism. New York City was no different.

In fact, the sheer number of protesters who turned out in the city last week was
among the highest of any major metro area, shutting
down bridges and commandeering streets throughout the five boroughs.

Right now, the Eric Garner indictment has been lost somewhat amid the Ferguson headlines, but New York officials — and the nation — can't afford to pretend this grand jury doesn't raise the exact same questions about police officer accountability and the value of black lives. A decision is expected
by the end of December. Will you be watching?